Tasting Notes
Vinous 90-92
(as Bouchard lost 90% of their fruit in En Orveaux, this year’s wine was made almost entirely from purchased fruit from vines worked by the Bouchard team, located below the premier cru Vosne-Romanée Les Rouges): Good red-ruby color. Sexy, inviting scents of candied dark berries, raspberry, mocha and licorice. Then fat, plush and fine-grained but not as sweet as the nose suggests; there’s even something a bit roasted here. Finishes with decent acidity and solid structure but comes across as rather disjointed today and hard to assess. Winemaker Weber says he may have used too high a percentage of whole clusters and gotten too much stem tannins as a result. (Incidentally, in 2017 Bouchard will have two different bottlings of Echézeaux, one domain and one négoce.)
Robert Parker 89-91
“The 2016 Echézeaux Grand Cru does not come from the domaine this year since their own fruit was supplemented with purchased grapes. It has a pretty bouquet with vibrant red cherry and raspberry fruit laced with crushed stone and damp undergrowth scents. The palate is well defined on the entry with a gentle grip, the concentration already apparent but countered by a fine thread of acidity. The finish is just a tad straightforward but otherwise, this is a finely crafted Echézeaux, if not quite up there with the 2015.”
Anticipated maturity: 2020-2038